Wisconsin Statewide Fishing report 10.14.10The unseasonably warm weather in the last week provided some excellent late season fishing conditions for anglers, but it was a bit too good for waterfowl and grouse hunters and for the two-day youth gun deer hunt.
In the north, musky anglers continue to report fair to good success, with increasing numbers of anglers moving to live bait. Walleye fishing continued to be a bit erratic, but some good catches were being reported.
The Mississippi River dropped below flood stage this week and fishing action picked up considerably, with some very good reports for bluegill and largemouth bass in the backwaters and improved walleye and sauger action up and down the river. Some decent catches of walleyes have been coming off of lakes Monona and Mendota and musky fishing was picking up on Monona. Some smaller walleyes were being taken on the Rock River, but action slowed with the warmer weather.
The fall salmon run on Lake Michigan tributaries is continuing, with heavy fishing pressure still being reported in some areas, but success lower this week. The best action was on the East and West Twin rivers, where some limits were reported. There was also some action on the Manitowoc, but action was slower on the Kewaunee, Sheboygan and most southeastern tributaries, where flows have been low and water temperatures unseasonably high. More than 900 people turned out for the open house last weekend at the Root River Steelhead facility last weekend, with many visitors also reported at the Besadny facility.
Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) -
The beautiful Indian Summer weather, coupled with some great fall colors, has made for some excellent fishing conditions in the last week. However, the fish have not been real cooperative and overall success could only be considered fair. The main species of interest have been musky and walleye, with musky continuing to provide the best fall action. With the nice weather, water temperatures are holding in the mid to upper 50s, and musky anglers have been seeing increased action on live suckers and less activity on artificial baits. The warm and sunny days have produced some hits on stick baits and bulldawgs, but a big old sucker hung 5 feet below a bobber and row-trolled along the shallow/deep break has produced the best catches lately. Most of the musky that have been landed have been in the 34 to 42-inch size, but fish up to 48 inches have also been reported. Walleye success continues to be very erratic, with the nice weather bringing out more anglers to try their luck on the fall bite. Live minnows in a medium to large size have been the key, either on a slip bobber or on a jig. The best action has been near dark, with the minnows fished along the weed edges, sand/gravel shores and near bottom breaks. In addition, crank baits casted along shore in the low light hours have also produced a few decent catches. Bass anglers have basically put away their boats for the year -- though a warm, sunny day can produce some good action for largemouth for the die-hard bass anglers. Panfish action has been fair, with some nice crappie, bluegill, and perch still being found around any green weeds and near mid-depth cover.
Peshtigo
Fishing pressure has been light this past week due in part to breezy conditions on the water. Water temperatures have been in the low to mid 50s.
Marinette County -
The Dam at Peshtigo has been producing lots and lots of rock bass and they have been biting on everything from worms to spawn sacks. Little River is still producing some nice salmon as is the creek off Little River road. If spawn sacks are not working try casting stick baits. Hattie Street Dam and Bridge were still producing walleye and some brown trout for anglers drifting crank baits from the bridge or working the current seams with crawlers by the dam. Some perch, panfish, and bullheads were being caught off the docks at the Mystery Ship Landing.
Oconto County -
Fishing for bass and salmon in the Stiles Dam area has been slow, although the panfish bite remains constant. Perch have been on the agenda from Pensaukee landing to Oconto Park II. They were being found in 8 to 12 feet of water in conjunction with weed beds. Minnows have worked the best but crawlers were effective too at times. Oconto Breakwater Park angles were catching some nice perch and panfish from shore using crappie rigs tipped with minnows.
Brown County ?
The Fox River has been giving up a few musky to anglers dedicated enough to put in the hours to look for them. Anglers trolling for musky have also been catching a few on the lower bay as well. Bayshore Park anglers continue to catch good numbers of perch from Bayshore to just north of red river. Most anglers have been fishing 10-20 feet of water. Worms and minnows have been the best bait. Whitefish are starting to filter their way into the lower bay. Perch anglers have been catching a few on minnows. Anglers trolling for walleye have been finding it very tough to catch them. Most have been trolling crank baits in 15 feet of water.
Manitowoc County -
Light winds at 5-10 mph swirled from southwest to northwest throughout the week, creating excellent fishing conditions. Temperatures ranged from the upper 60s to lower 70s with sunny skies all week. With very little rain over the last week and a half, area water levels have dropped nearly 6 inches this week. Water clarity remains good and water temperatures rose a few degrees to average 54-56 degrees in the tributaries. The weekend resulted in very successful trips for anglers, with several salmon limits caught on the East and West Twin rivers. Pier and harbor fishing has slowed down this past week, with only an occasional chinook salmon, or brown or rainbow trout caught. The Manitowoc marina continues to be the only spot in either harbor, with anglers catching rainbows by floating spawn. Last week, the salmon by the dams weren?t biting, and the majority of the fish were snagged. But it has been the opposite this week. Anglers using spawn with a bell sinker set below the spawn, just split shots with spawn, or jigging spawn with no weight has been taking most of the salmon. A few anglers have also had success jigging twister tails. Chinook salmon have dominated the catches on both the East and West Twin rivers with very few trout being landed. At Manitou Park on the Manitowoc River, only a few salmon remain being caught using green/silver and gold champs and spoons. An occasional salmon has been caught at sites on the Manitowoc River including Cato Falls up to Clarks Mills casting champs and spoons. Near the mouth of the Little Manitowoc River, several salmon, brown, and rainbow trout have been landed using spawn. The chinook have been ranging from 14-18 pounds, with the few browns in the 10-12 pound range with an occasional 8-10 pound rainbow. Please remember that hook and line fishing is prohibited from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise in the tributaries, which began Sept. 15. Please release all foul hooked fish. If you observe any violations, please call 1-800-TIP-WDNR (1-800-847-9367).
Door County -
Sturgeon Bay anglers have been fishing smallmouth bass in 20 feet of water with some limited success. Most anglers have been plagued by the rough water and strong winds the last few days making it very hard to get out. Perch fishing has been slow as well with some perch being caught in the shallow weeds. Little Sturgeon Bay perch fishing has improved over the last few days with anglers finding good numbers of fish in 4-8 feet of water. Anglers have been using mainly worms for bait. Anglers fishing northern pike have been trolling the weed lines with larger husky jerks. Most pike have been running around 30 inches or so in size. Anglers trolling walleye have found it slow on Larson?s reef, most have been trolling crank baits. Chaudoir?s dock: anglers were finding some perch in 15 feet of water on the south of the dock, but overall fishing has been slow.
Strawberry Creek Egg Collection Facility ?
The third harvest at Strawberry Creek Monday, Oct. 11 netted 349 fish with about 50 more left to swim for the next harvest. The hatcheries collected approximately 450,000 eggs based on initial estimates. So, crews have processed more than 1,400 chinook and harvested approximately 1.5 million eggs. While we have processed enough fish to stay on schedule to meet the egg quota, the run is certainly not gaining any momentum at this point. The next harvest is scheduled for Thursday, Oct 14.
Kewaunee County -
The weather this week was beautiful with the average temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s. The winds remained relatively calm and were from either the southwest or the northwest for the majority of the week. The winds and a lack of remain allowed for the water clear up and now water visibility is extremely high. Thanks to everyone who helped volunteer at the Besadney Hatchery open house on Saturday. The pier fishing continues to be slow this week. There have only been a few fish taken this week and the majority of the fish have been king salmon weighing between 10 and 16 pounds. The most successful colors have been blue/white cleos or orange/copper cleos. A few fish continue to be caught in the footbridge area but the number of fish caught was down this week compared to last week. There continues to be an extremely high amount of fishing pressure behind Bruemmer Park. It is not uncommon to see 20 anglers back in the stream casting for fish. That being said, the amount of fish being taken continued to be low. The most successful anglers have been casting spawn sacs this week. The most successful boats are still reporting success right outside the piers. The number of boats trying to fish are still dwindling. The boats are still averaging less than one fish per boat and by far the most successful lures have been spoons. The fishing off of the Algoma piers has slowed down to a crawl this week. The majority of the days have passed without a single fish being caught on either the north or south piers. There have been very few fish even reported to be surfacing outside of the piers. The fishing success at Blahnik?s park off of Washington Street has also slowed down to a crawl. The water level has receded a bit and with that reports of fish have slowed. Anglers were still consistently catching fish in the Forrestville area with the majority of the fish being caught on spawn sacs. The fish being caught in the area are in extremely rough shape and are averaging about 13-16 pounds per fish. After the excitement of last week at Stony Creek, this was rather slow. There was only one report of a successful trip the entire week at Stony Creek. The few boats that are still trolling are continuing to have minimal success. The majority of the fish being caught are still king salmon but more and more brown trout are starting to get caught. Boaters are reporting that they are seeing ?hundreds? of fish on their depth finders about 400-600 yards outside of the pier.
Lake Michigan fisheries team report
Sheboygan County -
In Sheboygan shore anglers have been catching just a few browns and chinook in the marina, and crank baits have been the most productive. On the Sheboygan and Pigeon rivers water temperatures are in the low to mid 50s, and the rivers are fairly low. Fishing has been slow on the Pigeon, but in the Sheboygan some chinook and a few browns and coho have been caught at the Kohler dam and behind the Wildwood Athletic Complex. The most effective bait has been spawn sacs.
Ozaukee County -
In Port Washington, mornings have been busy in the north slip area, with upwards of 30 anglers at a time. Most anglers were using spawn off of the bottom, with several mature chinook caught and even more were lost. Anglers around the harbor have also been casting spoons off the rocks without much success. Fishing near the power plant has been slow, although fish can be seen swimming in the area. Fishing on Sauk Creek has been slow, and water levels on the creek are very low.
Milwaukee County -
In Milwaukee shore fishing has been relatively slow along the lakefront. chinook and browns can be seen surfacing in McKinley marina, but getting them to bite has been difficult. Salmon fishing on the Milwaukee River has been most productive on the south side of Estabrook Park and up to Kletzsch Park. Egg sucking leeches and yarn have been effective for fly anglers. The Menomonee River and Oak Creek remain very low, and fishing has been slow.
Racine County ?
Racine shore anglers have taken good numbers of chinook in the small boat basin near the boat launch. Fire tiger pattern crank baits have been productive, as well as spawn fished near the bottom. On the Root River the water is low and fairly clear with temperatures hovering around 58 degrees. Anglers concentrating around Lincoln Park had the most success fishing early morning. Effort was concentrated around the river bends as well as downstream from the weir. Catches were dominated by chinook salmon averaging 8-12 pounds. Most anglers preferred fly fishing with wet flies while other anglers were casting spinner baits. At Island Park fishing was hit or miss. Angler pressure was low with only a few anglers concentrating on the eastern side. Chinook salmon were visibly moving upstream, but successful catches were sparse. Anglers fishing around Washington Park have had the most steady success. Slightly higher water levels and deeper holes near the storm water discharge pipes were holding chinook salmon for most of the day. Anglers had success using a variety of baits from spawn sacs, imitation spawn, as well as casting spinners and spoons. Catches here were also dominated by chinook salmon averaging from 9-15 pounds. Fishing upstream from the weir has still been a little slow. Anglers have been concentrating effort around Quarry Lake Park and upstream toward Horlick dam. Anglers reported seeing some salmon movement, but most were unsuccessful in landing any.
Root River Steelhead Facility ?
The facility is in operation, and fish were processed on Oct. 9 and 13. So far this season, 254 chinook, 10 coho, 7 browns, and 5 rainbows have been passed upstream. The next fish processing day has not yet been scheduled. The second annual Root River Open House on Saturday October 9 was very successful because of the dedication and commitment of DNR staff and several volunteer organizations who worked together to make this happen. There were 564 adults and 356 kids who attended the event. Thanks to the greeters from the Racine Salmon Unlimited who kept track of the attendees and welcomed them with a smile. All of the activities on the site - including kids casting, knot tying, fly casting, fly tying, Lake Michigan fishing boat display, aquatic invasive species display/presentation, spawning demonstrations and guided tours, and the food court - were well attended and very educational. A special feature of salmon cooking and smoking demonstration was well received. Thanks to the 30 plus volunteers from Salmon Unlimited and Southeast Wisconsin Trout Unlimited. It could not have been done without their support.
Kenosha County -
Shore anglers in Kenosha continue to catch occasional chinook salmon and brown trout in the harbor near the Best Western, and fresh skein, white tube jigs, and silver crank baits have been producing. The majority of fishing pressure in Kenosha has been concentrated around the hotel, but a few anglers have been fishing near the mouth of the Pike River also. Water levels on the Pike remain low, and fish have not been able to move very far upstream.
Crawford County -
Fall colors are probably at their prime right now. . Some trees like black walnut and elm dropped most of their leaves. However hickory, maple, sumac and others are displaying their brilliant colors. Flooding conditions exist primarily along the Mississippi River but things are improving. The Mississippi River level has been slowly falling all week. As of Oct. 11, the Mississippi was just under flood stage with a reading of 15.7 feet. After cresting at 19.43 about 10 days ago it has been dropping ever since. Many boat landings remain closed or are inaccessible; however, it is improving. The Prairie du Chien area has enacted an emergency slow now wake ordinance on the Mississippi River. Anglers and duck hunters are urged to obey the slow no wake rules in order to protect private property from damage. The Wisconsin River is dropping rapidly. At Muscoda, the river stage wais at 2.69 feet this week. The Wisconsin River crested almost two weeks ago at about 9.5 feet. Most of the flooding concerns are over on the Wisconsin River. Most boat landings are open. The Kickapoo River has dropped to a normal flow and remains steady. The Kickapoo is slowly clearing up and is in good shape. Fishing, for some species, has really improved. Bluegill fishing has been very good in the backwater areas. Access to the river is a bit difficult with the high water. Reports of very nice sized bluegills being taken in the Prairie du Chien area and other backwater areas have been received. Look for areas with little or no current and fish in the flooded areas. Most are using worms for bait. Some anglers are fishing from the shorelines in the newly flooded areas and finding some gills. Cold Spring was good last week. Perch have really turned on recently. Look for perch in the flooded back water areas. Chunks of nightcrawlers have worked very well. Largemouth bass action has been very good. Bass seem to be all over in the flooded fields and timber. Many anglers report catching ?piles? of bass. Many anglers are fishing from shore. Walleye and sauger action is getting better. Anglers will have to search around, but active fish are being taken up and down the river. Northern pike have been taken in the flooded areas normally incidentally to bass fishing. Sheepshead (freshwater drum) action is slow. Catfish have been feeding heavily on worms on the flooded islands. The trout season is now closed.
Minocqua Area Fishing Report
http://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/minocquafishingreport.htmChippewa Flowage Fishing Report
http://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/chippewaflowagefishingreport.htmLake Michigan Fishing Report and tips
http://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/lmfishingtips.htmCentral Wisconsin Fishing report
http://www.wisconsinoutdoor.com/wisconsinriverfishingreport.htmInformation compiled from the WDNR Outdoor report and private sources
